I have Ceratopteris cornuta in 4 of my tanks, all are doing splendid. Unfortunately, in my 20 long, they are doing too splendid. The roots have grown down like a curtain completely down to the substrate! I dont mind it over the anubias so much, but the wife hates it. Ultimately on the back wall is hornwort and C. thalictroides, both of which will roll over and provide surface cover, but its not there just yet. Are there tricks to keeping the roots short, or should I be grabbing some duckweed or salvinia or something off aquabid?

I do like the look of a floating plant, and franky frogbit is kinda nice looking....

My problem with water sprite was always not enough roots. Do you have room to plant them ? I always just let the small plants float and planted them as they got bigger. It seems like you eventually have to give them away or throw them away. It's all a matter of taste insofar as what you can use as an alternative. I always liked the very fine leafed plants as floaters.

I have Ceratopteris cornuta in 4 of my tanks, all are doing splendid. Unfortunately, in my 20 long, they are doing too splendid. The roots have grown down like a curtain completely down to the substrate! I dont mind it over the anubias so much, but the wife hates it. Ultimately on the back wall is hornwort and C. thalictroides, both of which will roll over and provide surface cover, but its not there just yet. Are there tricks to keeping the roots short, or should I be grabbing some duckweed or salvinia or something off aquabid?

I do like the look of a floating plant, and franky frogbit is kinda nice looking....

I would love to see a picture of your tank and especially the roots from the Water Sprite. Water Sprite is a fairly new addition to my tank and thus far, it isn't doing much. It had been rooted in another tank and I was wanting to leave it floating.

That Ceratopteris is looking very good indeed. That is exactly what you want. Fish will love browsing through those roots.

You can trim them, but that frequently results in a very artificial appearance, unless you painstakingly trim a root at a time to keep a balanced root mass.

If you are getting daughter plants on the floating leaves, pull a few off to start on their own, and when they are a decent size, discard the parent plant. This is how I manage my C. cornuta. I never trim the roots because this is one of the great benefits of this plant, so natural in forest waters.

The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.[unknown source]

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]